CLEVELAND -- The sun poked through the clouds on Tuesday afternoon, allowing the Indians the chance to finally take batting practice on the field again. There were plenty of smiles around the cage during one of the only normal pregame workouts of the young, rain-soaked season for the Tribe.Maybe it was a sign, because things went Cleveland's way all night.For the first time since Opening Day, one of the Tribe's pitchers provided a quality start, as Corey Kluber dodged traffic and held San Diego at bay in an 8-6 victory at Progressive Field. Led by David Murphy, Cleveland's offense also did its part, giving the Indians a complete effort on the eve of a doubleheader. 
After sitting through its second postponement of the season on Monday -- necessitating a traditional twin bill on Wednesday -- the Indians responded well in what turned into the opener of this three-game Interleague series. The Tribe's players enjoyed a typical routine that included pregame hitting on the field for just the second time this year.Perhaps this is only a coincidence, but Cleveland scored seven runs and collected a season-high 15 hits on Sunday, which is the only other day they have had normal BP this season. On Tuesday, Padres right-hander Tyson Ross was tagged for seven runs against the Indians, who took advantage of a couple miscues by San Diego's defense.Kluber capitalized by limiting the amount of damage that could have developed in his six innings.In each of his first four innings, Kluber allowed the leadoff man to reach base for the Padres. After all the early bending, the right-hander finally broke in the third, when San Diego second baseman Jedd Gyorko delivered a two-run double with two outs. It was Gyorko who came through again for the Padres in the sixth with an RBI single.Overall, Kluber allowed nine hits, but he issued no walks, held the Padres to three runs and ended the evening with eight strikeouts. It marked the first quality start for Cleveland since Justin Masterson spun seven shutout innings on March 31. In the six games between Opening Day and Tuesday, the Indians rotation had turned in a 7.66 ERA.Kluber received a helping hand from his defense in the third inning, when Alexi Amarista led off with a single and moved to second on a fielding error by first baseman Nick Swisher on a pick-off attempt. One pitch after that mistake, Indians catcher Yan Gomes came up firing to second base, and Amarista sprinted for third.Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera received the throw and quickly relayed the ball to third baseman Carlos Santana, who tagged Amarista for the out as he slid into the bag. Everth Cabrera followed with a double, but Kluber escaped further harm in the inning.Cleveland struck for three runs in the third inning, but did so without managing a hit against Ross. After consecutive walks to Gomes and Murphy, Ross induced a grounder off the bat of Nyjer Morgan. Gyorko gloved the ball, but fired wildly beyond second base and into left field for a run-scoring error. Swisher then brought another run home with a groundout and Jason Kipnis chipped in a sacrifice fly.Ross, who only allowed two earned runs in his 5 1/3 innings, missed a relay throw from first baseman Yonder Alonso on a grounder by Cabrera in the fourth. That error paved the way for Murphy, who crushed a 3-1 pitch later in the inning for a three-run home run to put the Tribe up, 6-2. Murphy added an RBI double during a two-run outburst in the sixth inning.Over the past two games, Murphy has gone 6-for-8 with three doubles, one home run and five RBIs for Cleveland.The Padres did what they could to rally in the ninth inning, when Cleveland handed the ball to reliever Vinnie Pestano. Xavier Nady led off with a home run to deep center field and Chris Denorfia added a one-out triple. Denorfia later scored when Swisher misplayed a grounder from Alonso, setting up a two-out RBI single from Yasmani Grandal.With the Tribe's lead trimmed to 8-6, Indians closer John Axford took over and halted the comeback, inducing a game-ending flyout from Will Venable.Jordan Bastian / MLB.com
After sitting through its second postponement of the season on Monday -- necessitating a traditional twin bill on Wednesday -- the Indians responded well in what turned into the opener of this three-game Interleague series. The Tribe's players enjoyed a typical routine that included pregame hitting on the field for just the second time this year.Perhaps this is only a coincidence, but Cleveland scored seven runs and collected a season-high 15 hits on Sunday, which is the only other day they have had normal BP this season. On Tuesday, Padres right-hander Tyson Ross was tagged for seven runs against the Indians, who took advantage of a couple miscues by San Diego's defense.Kluber capitalized by limiting the amount of damage that could have developed in his six innings.In each of his first four innings, Kluber allowed the leadoff man to reach base for the Padres. After all the early bending, the right-hander finally broke in the third, when San Diego second baseman Jedd Gyorko delivered a two-run double with two outs. It was Gyorko who came through again for the Padres in the sixth with an RBI single.Overall, Kluber allowed nine hits, but he issued no walks, held the Padres to three runs and ended the evening with eight strikeouts. It marked the first quality start for Cleveland since Justin Masterson spun seven shutout innings on March 31. In the six games between Opening Day and Tuesday, the Indians rotation had turned in a 7.66 ERA.Kluber received a helping hand from his defense in the third inning, when Alexi Amarista led off with a single and moved to second on a fielding error by first baseman Nick Swisher on a pick-off attempt. One pitch after that mistake, Indians catcher Yan Gomes came up firing to second base, and Amarista sprinted for third.Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera received the throw and quickly relayed the ball to third baseman Carlos Santana, who tagged Amarista for the out as he slid into the bag. Everth Cabrera followed with a double, but Kluber escaped further harm in the inning.Cleveland struck for three runs in the third inning, but did so without managing a hit against Ross. After consecutive walks to Gomes and Murphy, Ross induced a grounder off the bat of Nyjer Morgan. Gyorko gloved the ball, but fired wildly beyond second base and into left field for a run-scoring error. Swisher then brought another run home with a groundout and Jason Kipnis chipped in a sacrifice fly.Ross, who only allowed two earned runs in his 5 1/3 innings, missed a relay throw from first baseman Yonder Alonso on a grounder by Cabrera in the fourth. That error paved the way for Murphy, who crushed a 3-1 pitch later in the inning for a three-run home run to put the Tribe up, 6-2. Murphy added an RBI double during a two-run outburst in the sixth inning.Over the past two games, Murphy has gone 6-for-8 with three doubles, one home run and five RBIs for Cleveland.The Padres did what they could to rally in the ninth inning, when Cleveland handed the ball to reliever Vinnie Pestano. Xavier Nady led off with a home run to deep center field and Chris Denorfia added a one-out triple. Denorfia later scored when Swisher misplayed a grounder from Alonso, setting up a two-out RBI single from Yasmani Grandal.With the Tribe's lead trimmed to 8-6, Indians closer John Axford took over and halted the comeback, inducing a game-ending flyout from Will Venable.Jordan Bastian / MLB.com
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